Emergency knuckle for car couplers



Jan. 15, 1924. 1,480,863

E. R. PACKER EMERGENCY KNUCKLE FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Feb. 16 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 1 est; /I51Ven tor:

by 7 Att Jan. 15, 1924.

E. R. PACKER EMERGENCY KNUCKLE FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Feb. 16 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 2 2 y1ggnton Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

'EBEN RAY PAGKER, b' fN iW ROCHELLE, fiwi ik, ge 'ie x biifmd Qfe AIY,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

"EMERGENCY KNUGKLEEOR'CAR 'eeu'rneiis.

Application filed Feb maIyTG, ill 2 0. Serial 1V0.

Toall ibho'm it'mag concern:

Be it known that I, EBE'N RAY PXOKER, a Citizen of the United States,'i'esiding etNeW Rochelle, in the county of lVestcheste'r and 5 State bfNewYerk, hav'e ini ented new and use fiil' Improvements in; EmefgenyKnuckles T61- Car Couplers, bf Whi'eh the 'fO'll6W-ingfishsp'ecificxtion. i v

This inventionrelete's toeme'r'g'encyknnckles fer "ear couplings 'encl'Consists (if in preved coiismi'ction affangeni'eht there- Of more ffillyt0" aclz 'pt it far ilnii eljsel use with the standaid types '61"Inak'es' 10f .car couplings "and WhiEzhIi-h aclditi onp'ossessesimpbrtant "itehtiiis and id'ifntafges which his is" wellurfdeistooclflii uni versally made in acc'bi dzince'with tlie M. C(B.standargls hnt which vz'ify n'sid'efzibly p'iitiew la'i'ly'in the shapesand eohtoiifs bf' the dipw hezids zinclth'etefb'ie 'i'inp'd'se 'Strictcnstructional limitations Whieh'miist he ddmplied with in theproduetio'n o'f a fimfetietlfemeL geiic coupling. My iinprei edlin'uckle is designed to cbnforinto the stztndztfd's and which meetsthe'many other and important 'c'bnditi'e'ns "6f this partiiilztr 21ft. iliifp'rtant features thereof which eeiitfibiite'in successfully meetingthe many reqiiifments include the fdllbwingz It 'is tie'euliarly fbrr'ndte lo'e intefeh'zingeable Withthestandtifcl knuckles ofthe'nia'nytypeso'f-a'rc'ou- -plings now On the market so as to befida'pted forf'eplaeing theiegula'r Rnii'ckl's When fecewbfn enhfoken; it is adaptedfer effe'eting the locking bf thepafts Where the usual locking p'iiftsare bfo'ken or defective; it is designed to he "efi'e'titie in eo'lipli'ng Where one 'off the pin lilg's 'o'fth'e draw head is broken off{it is adapted for efie'ctin'gthe iit r ii i iitent f it f b ibti fiyffig ent nvention cqnslstsnnthe pr V sIOhOf so as to pfei ent *eieessi ize'swinging lbr iiotation 'of the kiiiickle in either (Iireetidn with iireilppliedito the 'c'orrespofiding iiartsfiin the "several views.

In the drawings 2- Fig. i is he fiientaliseltieiiie1;:jzijy illuseatingit p ed immin n ,ihe present invention a d illustrttiligthecoacting@ei'i iiiig inefiihe'r i e 1 ie s is a 'vr'tiezil steepm new thereofinelevhti on. v H V; F1g.-3 1s a horizontal 'se'ptional vlewcprrespnding*to Fig. '1 *illiistratin g a slightly iiiodifledforhr thei'eofeiind H g4; is a veriieal-siciiiii View thereof 'cotfespending "t'dFig-B Q'giiid; ni s iiig the Hesiiabh eloiigi'iioii 6f the Coupling-'1' w .15:"shGWninthe die wing ilnp'reved 103v term; 'as' illustii gttecl havingits fiert'yeid iitlve-surfa'c'e of the usual contour confor with theusual inclined jib? eliis ing sni'fece 2', superi'rhijbsedf pit et pilsuppeifting lugs 3, 3 and ispfdviclecl at its reztr with alateral ingarm of the jaw or "knnekle 5 Vas h eretbfore efistomzitilyn'sed. 6 thereillustfatecl a hbusiiig "0 1" soeltet fer the usual dett-ed ii iesElf-"Fig.1,

The emergency knii'kle as here i11iistrated and in accordance with myinvention is formed with the locking jaw 8 of a contour conforming tothe M. C. B. standards and is provided with a vertical aperture 9therethrough to receive the usual pivot pin 10 of the coupling wherebyit is held in position. To retain the locking jaw 8 of the emergencyknuckle in looking or coupling position, an external holding lug 12 isformed integrally thereon and adapted to engage the outer surface of theside wall 11 of the coupler head. The lug 12 is therefore operative toprevent swinging forwardly of the coupling jaw 8 and accordinglyperforms the function of the usual locking means in preventing releasingmovement of the knuckle in the forward direction. It follows therefromthat in the event of the locking means of a coupler becoming broken theemployment of this emergency knuckle will permit of obtaining aneffective coupling with the jaw of ordinary type of a coacting couplingmember. In automatic coupling under the described conditions it will beunderstood that the ordinary coupling knuckle 7 of the coacting couplerwill be 'theswinging or movable member and will be deflected inwardly bythe surface 2 into the locking position in the usual manner.

. To successfully so operate and to be positive in its automaticcoupling operation it is required that the emergency coupling jaw 8shall also be secured from rotation or swinging inwardly toward or intoitssupporting head 2. For this purpose I have provided the emergencyknuckle element with a rearwardlyextending arm portion 14 having itsouter surface 15 suitably positioned to engage with the inner surface ofthe side wall 13 of the coupler head thereby to act as a stop to preventexcessive movement inwardly of the jaw portion 8 whereby the lattercannot swing inwardly suflicient to.

prohibit the proper automatic coupling. The provision of both theexternal and in ternal engaging portions 12 and 14 of the knuckle willthus operate to secure the emergency knuckle in operative lockedposition at all times and the stops thus formed occupy but small spacewhich permits of their being made with proper clearance to beinterchangeable with the many types of coupler construction.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a desirable modified constructionemploying the described features of my improved knuckle but wherein thesecuring arm or lug 14 is somewhat elongated to extend within thecoupler head whereby its inner extremity 16 will be adapted forengagement with the inner surface of the side wall 17 of the couplerheadv to supplement the stop 12 in preventing unlocking movement of thejaw 8. The provision of this arm 14 andparticularly in its elongatedform as shown in this modification is desirable in rendering theemergency knuckle effective under the conditions of a broken off pin lug3 in that the arm 14 by engagement with the upper or lower wall of thecoupler head will operate to maintain the pivot pin 10 in its verticalposition and prevent angular stress on the remaining pin lug 3. j

A further important feature of the modified form ofFigs. 3 and 4consists in the vertical elongation of the working face of the couplinghook or jaw 8 as indicated. In the ordinary emergency knuckle theworking face of the jaw members are not over about 8" in height and inaccordance with this modification I have extended the jaw member 8vertically in both directions so as'to give it a height equal to two orpreferably three times the height of the ordinary knuckle. In this wayit-is impossible for an engaging knuckle to slip above the top or belowthe bottom of the emergency knuckle, no matter how uneven the track maybe and therefore all danger of accidental uncoupling because of anuneven track is obviated.

A knuckle having a vertical height a or depth of twenty-four inches, asordinarily made, would be too heavy to be conveniently handled andtherefore, in order to make the device sufficiently light, I make themember 8 hollow, preferably by coring out deep recesses 18 extendingdownwardly from the top face and upwardly from the bottom face. Coredout in the manner described, light ness is secured without detractingfrom the strength of the knuckle.

While I have described desirable embodiments of the features of myinvention it will be understood that modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

I claim- 1. An emergency knuckle adapted to take the place of theordinary knuckle in a car lug of the coupler head is broken off and,

said arm being formed whereby its inner extremity is positioned toengage at opposite sides with an internal wall of the coupler head whenrotated in either direction and of such length as to be contained Whollywithin the forward opening of the coupler head.

2. An emergency knuckle adapted to take the place of an ordinary knucklein a car coupling comprising a body provided with an aperture forreceiving the pivot pin of the coupling for holding it in place, acoupling jaw and retaining means for retaining said jaw in lockingposition, said retaining means comprising external and internalshoulders positioned to engage the side Wall of the coupler or draw barhead and said internal shoulder being formed as a rear- Wardly extendingarm of a form and length adapted to engage the inner Wall of the forwardopening of the coupler head at the opposite side from the pin to resist'for- Ward pull on the jaw and said internal shoulder or arm being ofsuch length as to avoid the necessity of removing of the usual lockingparts as to be contained .Wholly Within the forward opening of thecoupler head. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EBEN RAY PAOKER.

